


The Lightning Storm

by Friendlylycanthrope



Series: Let's Talk About It [14]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angella still trying to be supportive, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, PTSD, Panic Attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24278428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Friendlylycanthrope/pseuds/Friendlylycanthrope
Summary: The lightning reminds Catra of times in her past when a certain someone would use magic to punish her in cruel and inhumane ways, taking the form of shadows with red eyes or streaks of red lightning across her body.
Relationships: Adora/Catra, Glimmer/Adora
Series: Let's Talk About It [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714624
Comments: 1
Kudos: 103





	The Lightning Storm

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a fun prompt "lol what if Catra did that thing that cats do sometimes where they run back and forth across the house batshit crazy in the middle of the night" but then I was like "well its angst o clock"

  
  
  


Adora loved that Catra was here now. She fell into their old ribbing and jokes, and it was so easy and natural that Catra couldn’t help but fall into it too. Despite her discomfort with Castle Bright Moon, she felt more comfortable whenever she could relax with Adora whenever they could. After all she had been mainly on her own for over a year now, and she was a bit touch starved. Maybe she had been ever since Adora had left and she lost that person she was comfortable enough to share her space with. 

Adora would be studying on the couch in front of a coffee table, and Catra would come in and lie across her lap lazily in a half-sleep state. They would spar together followed by showering in neighboring stalls in the gym locker room, just like back in the horde, even though it was less mandatory now, meaning that Adora would be there every day and Catra would join if she were bored. Adora would casually throw her arm around Catra’s neck as they horse-played a bit in the halls. Catra would rub the top of her head against Adora at rare opportunities when they were alone. Adora thought nothing of it, simply returning to old habits with her best friend.

Of course, it wasn’t the same as when they were kids. Sure, it echoed the ease of their youth, but they had both changed a lot over the years. They were both stronger, more mature adults due to their time of separation. Adora was following some grand cosmic destiny as the Princess of power, a role that she devoted everything to. She needed to make up for mistakes of the horde in the past rather than trying to move up in the ranks and impress her superior officers. As for Catra, she was much less reckless than she was as a teen, and although she still behaved rudely out of nature, she was able to do her job as efficiently as ever and more than proving herself. They had grown and changed so much, but underneath it all, it was easy for them to fall back on simpler times, simple relationships that they knew and trusted. 

And every time Catra and Adora touched, Catra could feel the curious, anxious, maybe even hating look that Glimmer gave her across the room.

Most of the time, Catra could tell when someone was approaching her--or more appropriately as was frequently the case, sneaking up on her. ‘Most of the time’ being key, because she soon learned that there was one person who actually could sneak up on her. Someone she couldn’t possibly hear walking behind her, because this person could teleport.

She had been walking to her room for a nap, as she took many during the day, when her vision filled with pink magic before being replaced by the princess of BrightMoon, right in front of her. She actually startled a bit, but tried to hide it.

“Geez, Glitter!”

“Sorry, my bad! Miscalculated!” She hastily stepped back. “I just wanted to, I don’t know, touch base with you?”

Catra’s ears went up on one side and down on the other, a telltale sign that she was either curious or confused; sometimes, like now, both. 

“You wanted to talk to me?” Catra said. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Glimmer assured. “I guess it’s just that I’m really curious? And I wanted to talk to you about it, even if I might not like the answer...”

Catra sighed in an exasperated tone of knowing what was coming. She had dealt with it her entire life, she was allowed to be annoyed every time it came up.

“No, I can still see in color, not black and white.” She droned knowingly. 

“What?” Glimmer was caught off guard for a moment before she realized. “Wait no, that isn’t-- although good for you? I guess? I wanted to ask you about Adora, and your relationship with her.”

Catra leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. She knew this would come eventually, and wasn’t looking forward to it. She got the “don’t mess with Adora” speech from Shadow Weaver countless times back in the horde. 

“It’s just that you guys have been really, I dunno, affectionate? In ways that I haven’t seen you do with anyone else before. And I really care about her, and I don’t want to see her get hurt, so I needed to know if you might um,”

“We’re not doing anything that you wouldn’t want your girlfriend doing, okay?” Catra said, looking away. “It’s not like that... we’re close but we’ve just been through a lot of the same shit together. I won’t make any advances if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m not that kind of person. And trust me, the last thing I want to do is get on the bad side of the one person offering a fragile refuge to me.”

“You shouldn’t have to worry about your safety here, Catra. But thank you for saying that.” Glimmer looked away and tucked some stray hairs back into place. Catra could tell there was more on her mind, and decided to take a gentler approach.

“Is that  _ all _ you wanted to ask, princess?”

Glimmer bit her lip and looked out a window. It was dusk in the summertime, with storm clouds gathering. 

“I guess there’s a lot I want to ask you. I mean, I know you won’t make advances or even do anything to hurt the rebellion, especially Adora. So I guess we can just do our best and see what happens.”

Catra hummed thoughtfully, but remained tense. Her tail swished once, then twice, before she started to walk off to her room again.

“Goodnight...” Glimmer called hesitantly after her. Catra, unused to this custom, hesitated, but didn’t respond.

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


If you asked Catra, she didn’t think she had PTSD or anything else wrong with her, and that was what she believed. After all, she had seen Adora suffer from panic attacks at the slightest things, and was surprised to see it coming from her, but she had never had anything like that herself. 

That is, she never did until she left the horde. After she left, things became different. She felt safe and anxious at the same time, and she kept thinking about the horde barracks and the training she was familiar with. 

Then, a storm started rolling in from the sea. It took a full day to get there, but everyone could smell the electricity in the air as the sky darkened. The winds slowly built up and the sea became choppy. Catra felt her anxiety rising the closer the storm got, but she had no idea why. It was just a storm, these happened all the time back in the Fright Zone. All day the clouds hung over Bright Moon like a dark curtain, with the roar of the wind picking up by the afternoon forcing every person inside to safety. 

Catra lay in her bed. It was dark, early in late at night hours but she had no idea when. Unlike Adora, who preferred the hard familiarity and scratchy sheets, Catra relished the softness and warmth. But tonight, she lay flat on her back, on top of the sheets, her arms and legs stiff to her body as the wind rattled outside, punctuated by a distant boom of thunder. She breathed heavily through her nose, her eyes wide open and trying to focus on the ceiling.  _ It’s just a storm. It can’t hurt you _ she kept repeating in her mind, like when she and Adora were tiny cadets. She gripped the sheets under her till she heard seams ripping. Her eyes became hot with tears she fought to hold back. 

_ Why is this happening?! _ She scolded herself for her childish fear.  _ It’s just a storm, I shouldn’t be like this!  _ When she closed her eyes against the tears, all she could see was magenta electricity that sent her heart racing. Her jaw clenched shut and she couldn’t scream if she wanted to. Even though her chest was heaving, she felt like she couldn’t get any air, she couldn’t breathe, like she was paralyzed by those wicked clouds of magic that held her in place. Thunder rolled off the clouds in the distance again and her eyes shot open, this time with uncontrollable streams of tears pouring down her face as she continued panting and gripping the sheets. 

She couldn’t move, but her entire body became stiffer and stiffer as she heaved for air.  _ It’s just a storm! It’s just a storm, what’s happening!  _ There was a terrible invisible weight that bound her body down into the softness of the bed until she felt like she was drowning in it’s downy soft void. She tried to open her mouth to yell for help but her teeth were clenched too tight together. 

She hadn’t realized that it had started raining, how long had it been raining? The roar of water pouring down her window overwhelmed her. She felt out of time and space, but still subject to the senses that beat at her brain and caused her heart to palpitate as she lay in a cold sweat, unable to move.  _ Get over yourself, it’s just a storm! _ She berated in her mind again. Her eyes saw the window but at the same time all she could see was hot violet sparks of magic coming for her, binding her, holding her down. 

Suddenly, faster a peel of lightning tore across the sky and flashed violently across Catra’s body, and seemed to break the invisible curse over her as she finally sprang out of bed in sweat and tears, panting and shaking. By the time the lightning vanished, so had Catra. She could finally move, and she couldn’t stop moving. She ran around in a panic, as though looking for somewhere safe, something to make her feel safe, but she didn’t even know what she was looking for. The image of the crooked beam of lightning was ingrained in her eyes’ vision, but it was crimson and pulsing threateningly. Her door was open and in a second she was racing across the vacant halls of the castle, uncontrollably jumping and running anywhere she could get to, but not sure why or where she was going. She scittered across the tile floors in her bare feet and claws, sometimes doubling down on all fours for balance, and had to double back at random times, she jumped at her own shadow and raced through the darkness in a frenzy. It was as though she didn’t recognize where she was, and that made her feel unsafe, but at the same time she had no idea where she was going and couldn’t register things like exits or windows. Every time the thunder crashed or lightning split the sky open her panic intensified as visions of swimming in red electricity. 

The guards were the first ones to find something wrong when Catra flashed around the corner on all fours in the dim light of the watch. They immediately assumed that the feline had gone rogue and was trying to escape, or worse, hurt someone in the castle, and they woke up the whole squad to track her down. The commotion of dozens of guards woke up the inhabitants, starting with the Queen, who was the first to realize that something was wrong with Catra and she needed help. The guards tried to usher her to the safety of her chambers, but the queen was adamant in getting to the bottom of this. 

“Hold it right there!” a guard yelled with her spear pointed down the hallway, where Catra was barreling towards them with no recognition. Three guards blocked off the hallway, trying to trap her. But Catra leapt over their heads, then kicked off a wall, spun around in an airborne pirouette , and landed behind them effortlessly. Angella watched her disappear again into the dark corridors with fear for the young woman. 

“Something is wrong.” She told the general. 

The general again tried to escort the queen to somewhere safe, but instead Angella put her hands on the general’s shoulders. “Go get Adora, she might know how to help get through to her!” She pleaded. 

Then the queen and the four guards present could make out familiar voices down the hall. 

“Catra? Wh--AAH!” Glimmer cried out before the familiar jingle of her teleportation took over a few times as bright light accompanied her teleports all the way down the hall, avoiding a wide eyed Catra as she again crossed through the hallway. Catra was again gone, and this time, Glimmer and Adora stood in front of the guards trying to get their bearings after avoiding her to this point. They were both in their pajamas, and Adora had the sword in her hand as her eyes strained in the dim lights to see Catra disappear, trying to solve what was wrong. 

“Mom!” Glimmer said, separating herself from Adora. “We heard a bunch of commotion, what the heck is going on?”

“What’s wrong with Catra?” Adora asked immediately after, lowering her sword. Lightning flashed across all their pale faces for a split second, and something upstairs crashed which they could only assume was Catra knocking into something. The entire group took off toward the sound. 

“Something is wrong,” the queen explained in brief, “It's as though she doesn't know where she is or even who she is. It must be the storm. She’s having a panic attack,” 

“But it’s just a thunderstorm, we had these all the time back at the fright zone, and they never bothered her.” Adora said. They had come to a crossroads that split into several different directions, and stopped. They were in a large room with a crystal chandelier, and hallways going off in eight directions. There were several floors above them, with balconies and walkways that lined the walls of the great room, each lined with doors. She could have gone anywhere. They could see in a few spots where more guards were mobilizing and checking every room for her. 

“Split up, we have to find her!” The queen ordered her guards. “But do not threaten her, no weapons!” She added sternly. “That will only make her more flighty!” 

“Catraaa!” Glimmer called out into the hallways. It echoed to the sound of thundering footsteps in every direction. Thunder boomed so loudly outside that the walls of the castle shook. 

“We have to help her, but how?” Adora said. “She’s like a wild animal.”

“We have to help her calm down somehow.” Angella said, eyes searching the walkways that were open to the giant room. “It seems like she feels threatened and trying to run away, but she hasn’t lashed out in attack yet. She’s only defending herself.” 

“We have to get through to her and jog her memory somehow.” Glimmer said. 

Suddenly, Catra appeared in a balcony high above, the guards scrambled to surround her, but she leapt off the railing and everyone gasped in fear, until she scrambled onto another balcony a layer below that was perpendicular, her fingers grabbing desperately at the ornately decorated mouldings as she tumbled onto the floor, already taking off running again before disappearing. 

“Adora, you have to try to get her to see clearly!” Glimmer said, taking her friend's shoulders. “You two lived almost your entire lives together, she has to remember something, you might be able to get through the fear!”

“But there’s no way we can catch up with her, she’s too quick!”

“We have to try.” Angella said. Lightning flashed once again, followed by a venomous hiss and a thud as Catra slammed against a wall, unable to turn in time, somewhere in the castle. 

The whole castle was running around trying to get an idea of Catra’s berserk movements, but the three women trying to help her were counting their blessings that she hadn’t broken out of the castle yet, probably because the thundering rain was driving her away from windows constantly. 

As fast as they could, they tried to pinpoint Catra’s frenzied movements. Adora had turned the sword into a rope, hoping to just trip Catra long enough to get a hold on her, as much as she was loathe to feel like she was hurting her friend. They went to the last place she was spotted, and waited for a sign of where she went. They didn’t need to wait long, as Catra came down the hall, jumping between support beams high above their heads, struggling for balance much more than if she were of a clear mind. Adora threw the rope with perfect precision, and caught Catra at the ankle, and as she started to fall, Glimmer teleported to intercept to lighten the impact. Adora immediately released the rope and ran to Catra, reaching out for her hands. 

She looked into the feline’s wild eyes, pupils swollen against the dim light, and she felt afraid. Those eyes weren’t focusing on anything around her, and looked like a savage animal more than Catra ever looked like a person. She was already beginning to flail her limbs to try and sit up, then started pushing herself back until she was against a wall. Adora saw that she was soaked in sweat, and she had a cut on the back of her hand. She probably had to defend herself from the guards, Adora realized, as she shook her head.

“Catra,” She said over the panicked panting. “Catra, calm down,” She reached a hand forward to take Catra’s hand, but as soon as she made contact with the light fur, Catra’s pupils shrank and she recoiled in fear, lashing out.

“Get Away!” She cried in a voice that was hardly recognizable. Adora sat on the ground, a hand to her bleeding jaw as she watched Catra bound away again. 

“Adora!” Glimmer was quick to pull Adora up. Three thin scratches appeared on her jaw. 

“I’m fine, it’s nothing.” She assured. 

“That’s the first thing she’s said all night.” Angella said. 

“She... she doesn’t feel safe.” Adora started to theorize. “Maybe it’s the sound or, or the lightning that reminds her of.. Her...” Adora refused to say her name. The other two nodded in understanding. 

“If we can’t get through to her without making her feel unsafe, then what do we do?” Angella asked. 

“We need to help her feel safe somehow.” Glimmer said. 

“Okay let me think...” Adora racked her brain. “Back in the Fright Zone she would always hide under the blanket in our bunk after She.” She broke off as her throat tightened. God, she would never be past this. “She would hide in our bed all wrapped up until she was ready to come out.” She finished. A guard ran by them out of breathe down the hall, and more footsteps could be heard throughout the castle. “But nobody can keep up with her at her speed!” 

“I might be able to catch up to her if I teleport.” 

“I’ll get a large blanket.” Angella offered. “If you can catch up to her maybe you can wrap her up and that will placate her.” 

“Yeah sure it works for animals.” Glimmer said, unsure. She thought she could remember something about covering a horse’s eyes to reduce panic-- or was it turtles?

“She’s not an animal, she’s just afraid.” Adora defended. Angella put a hand on her shoulder. 

“Of course. And it’s up to us to make sure she doesn’t get hurt or hurt anyone else.” By now, the scratches had stopped bleeding, but for some reason Adora felt guilty, almost like she was responsible. 

Glimmer soon caught up to Catra as she made a circuit around the largest room by floor plan square feet, the ballroom. There were floor to ceiling windows everywhere that were awash with a constant stream of rain down the outside. Catra came to one just as lightning again split across the sky, and she faltered and shook in fear so ferociously that she skidded and landed on her back. She soon put her hands under her, and her breath caught as the aftershock lit up the room. Soon she was up and turned around, where Glimmer held a blue blanket up in front of her like a flag. 

“Easy Catra, It’s okay,” But Catra was already using her as a springboard to propel herself back into the center of the room. Glimmer acted fast, and teleported. Catra’s jump was interrupted when the support suddenly disappeared, and landed on her face on the tile floor. Before she could get up again, Glimmer was over her with the blanket, trying to contain her within its corners like a can of worms. 

All Catra knew was that the world suddenly became darker and darker. Every time she couldn’t see or closed her eyes, the lightning in her vision intensified, and she knew that if it got too strong that it would trap her again, and hurt her ruthlessly for escaping. Panic turned to rage within her, and she clawed wildly at the shapeless void she found herself in, until suddenly Glimmer had only a few handfuls of blanket shreds and Catra peeled off yet again. 

“Okay so that might have made her worse.” Glimmer admit when she caught up with Angella and Adora again in a hall lined with mosaics that featured a waterfall on the opposite dead end. She saw desperation wet Adora’s eyes. 

“How long is this storm going to last!” She rubbed the heel of her hands into her eyes. “We can’t do this all night, she needs help or she’s going to get hurt.” 

“UGh, it’s too late at night for this. No more playing nice, we need to shock some sense into her.” Glimmer moaned. They heard the now telltale scramble of claws on the floor above them, and some guards shouting. Glimmer narrowed her eyes, carefully judging the distance, and vanished in a pink mist. 

“Glimmer wait!” Adora called out. But it was too late, as a shimmer of light appeared several feet to the side of them, and Glimmer came into existence with Catra writhing in her grip, only a few feet over the water feature that the waterfall poured into. As soon as they came into view, they both dunked beneath the water’s surface into the fountain with a loud splash. Adora and Angella were already running over to the edge, just in time for both girls to gasp back to the shallow surface. The fountain was at least thirty feet wide, but no deeper than two feet even at its zenith as they both sat up. Glimmer was the first to act, and grabbed Catra’s shirt as she teleported them both out, landing soggily and dripping in front of the fountain. 

Catra panted for breath harder than ever before. She shivered against the icy water, and then against the cool air against it. The visions of electricity faded as she fell to her hands and knees, back hunched as she stared at the cold floor beneath her. The shock of the icy sensation released the grip of hot fire across her skin, and the desperate gulps for air suddenly filled her lungs after the water had deprived her of breath, for the first time all night she felt like she was breathing. It filled her until her head became light, and then faded to a pressure on her brain as she continued to breath, until it faded to black. 

“Catra!” Adora called, scooping the wet feline into her arms as she cradled her on the floor. Angella rushed to Glimmer-- first to check that she was alright, then to scold her for the bold action. Adora put a hand beneath Catra’s ear, behind her jawbone. The heart rate she detected was wildly fast, but at least it was there. Her body still shook and heaved with the aftershock from the ice cold water, unable to stop shivering despite her state. 

“She’s passed out.” Adora announced. The two royals looked down on Catra’s matted wet fur, as she shuddered against the cold. Glimmer herself was holding herself for warmth, her teeth chattering. 

“She’s exhausted.” She noted as she kneeled down.

“It’s been a long night for her.” Angella said sympathetically. “For all of us.”

Adora stood up, and cradled Catra in her arms bridal style. 

“Right now let’s get her warm and dry. Then maybe we can all rest.”

Angella went to attend to the guards; to scold them on their threatening behaviour, and to update them about how to proceed in the future. Glimmer went to change clothes, and soon after checked in on Adora, who had taken care of Catra, toweling her fur and wild mane off as best as she could, and changing her clothes. Tomorrow, she would try to get Catra to take a bath. When Glimmer came in, Adora was tucking Catra in to her own hard bed. They didn’t say anything at first. Adora sat on the edge of the bed, Glimmer kneeled down beside it and rested an arm on the bed by Catra’s head.

“I was hoping that the sound of the waterfall in here would drown out the storm.” Adora mentioned awkwardly. Glimmer listened carefully, but she could still make out the sound of wind beyond the walls. 

“Yeah, hopefully that will help.” 

“I feel like I have to apologize for everything, I mean everything went crazy all night for everyone in the castle.” Adora rushed, kneading a blanket with her hand. “I vouched for her when she got here so I should have been prepared for this. And you never had to do anything this extreme when I got here,”

“Hey, Adora, don’t worry. Nobody knew this would happen, least of all Catra.” She put a hand gently on Adora’s in reassurance. 

“I kind of owe everything to you. If you hadn’t done what you did, we would still be in trouble. I can’t imagine what I would do if she hurt herself.” 

“This never happened back at the horde?”

“No, never.” She looked back at Catra, sleeping a bit frightfully as her eyes moved beneath her eyelids, and her ears twitched now and then. “It’s weird to think how she never panicked in the Fright Zone, but now she’s constantly anxious.”

“I’ve noticed it too... But then, you were similar at first.” 

“Really? That can’t be right.”

“Adora,” Glimmer said softly. “You were an anxious mess when you first got here. You still are sometimes, but that’s okay. We want you to be here. I want you to be here. Because its safe. And that goes for Catra too.”

Adora smiled at Glimmer nostalgically. Even before they were dating, Glimmer was her rock in uncertain times. That had only become more true as time went on. She was lucky to have someone as understanding as Glimmer in her life. She hoped that Catra could benefit from someone as kind and soft as her too. 

Another pause passed where they didn’t say anything. It was past midnight. The rain was starting to lighten. 

“Where are you going to sleep?” Glimmer asked after a while. “I mean, you could always come over to my bed,” she blushed. 

“I want to stay near her, in case anything else happens.” Adora said confidently. Glimmer looked away. 

“Well, I could always go for another sleepover.” She smiled shyly. “Like when you first got here.”

Adora smiled, her cheeks turning pink. “Thanks, babe.”

Soon, they had pulled enough pillows and blankets from Glimmer’s room that the floor was a perfect nest. Catra rested soundly, with the pillows around them to muffle any sound. Adora, after tossing and turning a bit, decided to crawl up onto the foot of her own bed, and curled up to sleep. 

“Adora?” Glimmer blinked sleepily when she realized. “What are you doing?”

“It’s okay, we did this all the time in the barracks. But uh, the other way around.”

Soon all three were asleep. The storm was gone by morning moonrise, but a light rain continued. Adora slept in past her usual e 5K run. Catra woke up suddenly, gasped as though she were in danger as she propped up on her elbows, then seemed to recognize that it was only a dream. She calmed down, but noticed Adora curled up at the foot of her bed, stirring awake. 

“Hey, Adora.” Catra greeted, trying to sound cool to cover up her confusion. 

“Catra, how do you feel?” Catra recalled the night before. All she could remember was being frozen in bed in panic, then having a nightmare about outrunning Her and her magic. A hand went to her head and rubbed a sore spot she couldn’t explain. She also felt slightly damp-- had she sweat through the night? And there was a cut in her hand, where did that come from.

Adora reached out and put a hand on Catra’s leg.

“You had a panic attack, Catra.”

“No I don’t get those.” Catra corrected. “I just couldn’t think straight is all. And I couldn’t move my body, or clear my head of .. Her.” 

“Yeah that’s what a panic attack is.” Catra looked up at Adora. 

“What happened to your face! And how did I get here,”

“Don’t worry about that. I brought you here to calm you down for the night.”

“Wait, I had a panic attack? That can’t be right, I never had those before.” Adora breathed in through her teeth. 

“Well you certainly did last night. It might have been the storm.”

Catra paused, and Adora could see the gears turning in her mind. 

“It felt... Awful.” Catra looked away. “You’ve been having these things, ever since you left the horde?”

Adora nodded. 

“You go through that... every time with that fear? How did you...” Catra couldn’t comprehend the magnitude. Adora just nodded again sympathetically. Catra had joined the rebellion not long ago, so she had only seen it happen maybe two or three times, but Adora has been here for longer than Catra had, who knows how many times something had triggered her to spiral into hysteria before. Catra felt her heart swell at the thought of Adora going through that for years alone. She could hardly handle one night. 

“It’s okay,” Adora soothed her back to reality. “Yeah it feels awful, but now we know a bit more about how to prevent it, and how to stop it if it does happen. And yeah, there are things that will trigger you to spiral down that you don’t even realize. Like lightning.” Catra’s ears pulled back against her head, half remembering like a bad dream. Adora took Catra’s hand.

“My first attack, I think, it was only a few weeks after I got here. Queen Angella touched my face for some reason, and the next thing I knew I was looking at Her and it was all back to me, reliving those memories. Angella felt awful about it, but now I know how to avoid it.”

“But you can’t avoid  _ lightning _ .” Catra said. Her throat tightened with unfamiliar emotions. 

“I’ve been thinking about that.” Adora countered with a smile. “If we can tell a storm is coming, we can go down into the lower levels where you can’t see lightning. And we can wrap you up in a blanket and give you sound proof headphones to help with the thunder.”

“Tch. You really have a plan for everything, huh.” Catra retorted, looking away to hide her red cheeks and wet eyes. She was embarrassed that this happened at all, she should be tougher than that. She was ashamed that she couldn’t remember parts of it.

“Hey, don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.” Adora said. “I know its a lot. But--”

“UUUUGHHG.” The groaning from the nest of blankets besides them interrupted. “We went to bed in the TINY hours of the morning can we PLEASE sleep in.” Glimmer grumbled. They both smiled. Glimmer weakly chucked a pillow in their direction. Adora laughed. 

“Okay well we can talk later. I’m late for my morning run.”

“Suit yourself, I’m exhausted.” Catra said, rolling back into Adora’s bed. 


End file.
